Actuating mechanism for elevator stop devices.



0. R. WHITTIER. AGTUATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR STOP DEVIGES.

APPLIGATION FILED (IAN. 24, 1912 Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

8 SHEETSSHEETI INVENTOR ATTORNEY- 0. R. WHITTIBIi.

AOTUATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR STOP DEVICES,

- APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1912.

Patented Dec.29,1914

8 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J v k 3% 3/? 2Q v Z AOTUATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR EEEEEEEEEE S.

irnns'rarus ran a e.

CHARLES R. WI-IITI'IER,

on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF TO ERNEST W. MARSHALL, orYONKERS, NEW YORK.

' ACTUATING- MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR STOP DEVICES.

Be it known that I, CnauLns R. lrVHIT- ruin, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a'resident ofthe city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ActuatingMechanisms for Elevator Stop Devices, of which the following isaspecification, reference being had to the accompanying (1 'awings,forming apart thereof.

.My invention relates to elevators and other apparatus having a movingcar or member which is to be automatically brought to rest or the speedof which is to be changed automatically at a predetermined point orpoints in its travel, and it has special reference to means foractuating such'stop or limiting devices as may be used for the purposeabove indicated.

Elevators are usually provided with valves or limit switches dependingon their character for automatically bringing the cars to rest when theyreach the ends of their travel in either direction. Various means haveheretofore been utilized for ac tuating these valves or switches at theproper time.

The object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple and durablemechanism for actuating such stop e.- limiting devices and to improveupon such arrangements as ha ve heretofore been known.

By means of my invention the actuation of the stop or-limit device maybejnot only controlled or gm'ci'ned to take place during the desiredportion of the run of the elevator car or other member but also the rateat which the stop device is moved and the character of the movementproduced may be adjusted to suit the. conditions under which theapparatus with which it is used is intended to be operated. I

Referring to the drawings :-Figure l is a diagramnmticelevation ofcertain parts of, an elcaator with my invention applied .thereto. Fig. 2is a view on a larger scale ol a rope drum which in Fig. 1 is shown Iunder the elevator car and carried by the a simple diagram of a slightlymodified arrangement in which certain of the parts shown in Fig. l areduplicated. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of a car. Fig. 3 isSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

Application filed January 24. 1912. Serial No. 673,228.

part of the rope drum, illustrating what I believe to be a particularlyadvantageous structural embodiment of my invention whereby the samejdrummay be set or adjusted to obtain various surface conditions. l igs. 5and 6 are views corresponding to Fig.2 showing modified drum structures.These figures are intended to illustrate the flexibility of myinvention. Fig. 7 is a view of an arrangement which embodies my invention in another form and in which the ropes or cables which aredepended upon for actuating the 'stop or limit device, move with thecar. Fig. 8 illustrates still another modification of my invention inwhich the rope drum which controls the operation of the automatic stopslloats in a rope or cable which is connected with an elevator car andwith its counterweight and travels with them. Fig. 9 is a detail view inside elevation of the floating drum shown in Fig. 8.

which used in the arrangement illustrated 'in Fig. 10 is shown in sideelevation in Fig. 1!. Figs. 12, 13 and li illustrate different forms ofrope drums which may be utilized in conjunction with the presentinvention and serve to still further illustrate the wide range ofpossible actions and effects which may be produced.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of thefigures.

Referring first to Figs. l audit of the drawings, the arrangement hereshown com prises a car 10 having a counterweight 11 with which it isconnected by rope or cable 12 which passes over a pulley or sheave 13 inthe usual manner. The means for moving the car are not shown as theyform no part of this invention.

On any part of the car, or other moving element is rotatably mounted acontrol or cable 15 is fastened to this drum and is' wound around it andthen led down'to the bctton'i of the hatehway.

Frictional condrum in one direction.

tact may be suliicient fastening it but one.

rope is used. To the lower end of rope 15 shown diagrammatically.

The drum 20 comprises two sections 21 and 22 although these sectionsneed not be constructed as separate pieces or 'with an intermediateflange. The control rope section .1 1 is wound onto the drum section 21and the control rope section 15 is wound onto the drum section 22 in thesame di-' rection.

An automatic slack adjuster is shown in Fig. 1. This comprises a pulleyor drum 23 and a ratchet wheel 24: which is operatively associated withthe drum and a'pawl or follower 25 which prevents rotation of the Therope 14: is wound around this pulley or drum and to its end isattachedaweight 26 which, tends to keep the ropes '1 and 15 taut, sinceit acts in opposition to the weight 16 but is notsufiiciently heavy tooverhaul the latter.

Under the weight 16 is a fixed abutment 27 on which it the ropes 1 1,-15 stretch the weight will r t during the operation of the device, as willljppear more clearly presently. If any, slac is in these ropes at suchtimes; the weight 26 will take up the slack and the pawl 25whichcooperates'with the ratchet wheel 24 will keep the tension in therope constant. The rope section 1 1 is of course wrapped about the drumor pulley 23 a" sufficient number '01 times to preclude the possibilityof any relative movement between the rope and the surface of the drum.The drum section 21 is not of plain cylindrical form throughout itsentire length, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, but is provided 'withe'nlargements 28 and 29 located near its respective'ends. Thedrumsection22 as ShOWll'. in t is figgiregis cylindrical in form but'thisislnotessentialto my invention The number of turns of the rope sections14.- and 15 which are wrapped on the drum and the proportioning of thedrum are such that one of the'c'ables is being wound onto its drumsection and the other cable is being unwound from the other drum sectionwhile vthe car is traveling in'one direction, and

viceversa;

The operation of the particular form" of may. invention which l-have nowpointed outv is as follows:"The mai'n'portion of drum section 21 iscylindrical and is of the same diameter as that of the drum section 22.Let us assume that-the car is moving downward. hetensionwvhich thismovement oi, the outputs upon v rope l l will rotate, druir'il 20 tounwind rope Ligand this rotation will wind up rope 1;") upon its part ofthe drum at the samerate as that at which rope 14 pawl or .w-aund ulength of the cable sections ML 15 is unwound. Consequently while theseconditions prevail, the connection 18 with the stop devicewill'remainstationary. Butv as the downward movement of the carcontinues the portion ofrope 14:which is wound around the enlargedportion29 will begin to be unwound. On account of the increase indiameter of'thispart of the drum its rate of rotation, proportional tothe rateof movement of the car,' will be slower.-. Therefore the rope 15will not be Wound up as rapidly as it was or as rapidly as the car'isdescend.-

ing. Consequently. the point 18 will move downward and its connectionwith the stop device 17 will cause thelatter to retardf'the movement ofthe car. The downward movement of the connecting point 18 will continuehowever until thecairhasbeenbrought, to rest. Then point- 18 willhavereached such position as that designated by: a in Fig. 1. givethe'desired length and'rate. offmovement. of the stop device. It isitherefore of a fixed size and shape.- Afterenou-gh of the cable leyhasbeen ,unwoundfrom the part of the drum of enlarged diameter; its,remain- 1 ing convolutions willbe. found to'be on a part 29 of drumsection 21- which part'is of the same diameter as. that of the drumsection 22. Then evenv a continuedy movement of the car will have no.further. effect upon the position of the connecti'on.1 8,... -Wlieh thestop device hasthus beenfiived toits, extreme positiom the weight.- 16will be moved down, to the; abutment-27.; If the cables Hand-15 havestretchedor for any other reason become loose,'the. weight 26' will takeup this slack andtheratchet and es hivalent mechanism will hold theserope "in their new positions:v Thus The enlargement 29 is' proportionedto,,.

the ropes are maintained under desired tepw sion and the properadjustmentof the-cop:

the cable 15 to rotate. ;drum 20 and to wind up rope 14.Anupwardfmovement of the car equal to the circumference-ofv the part 22of the drum will result in acompleterotation of the drum. This willunwind-a 'art of rope'15 equalto the .ciroum ference o the drum 22 andasthis is less thanthe circumference of the. part 29-andlessthan thetravel of the car, theresult isthat, the weight 16' is lifted. This willbringthe connection point 18 backto the position'in which'itis shown'infull linesin Fig. 1 and willcenter the stop device. As the carapproaches-the upper limit of its travel,the.rope-14 will begin to rideup ,upon the enlargement. 28. This will cause moreof the cable 14 tobe'for each revolutionso. that the effective will be shortened. Then; theconnection. point 18 will beraised until it reaches-the.

7 surface of each of these collars.

surfaces of the collars may have any contour position indicated at b inFig. 1. The consequent movement of the stop device Wlll arrest thetravel of the car.

In connection with the foregoing description it may be noted that themovements of the stop device connection 18 may be made to begin at anydesired parts of the cars trave It is often advantageous to set oradjust the parts to vary somewhat the relative positions of the car atwhich its movement causes the stop device to be actuated. In Fig. 4asimple arrangement for making such adjustments is shown. In this figure30 designates a cylindrical drum with a helical rope groove 31 cut inits outer surface. This corresponds with the drum-section 21 alreadydescribed. 32-32 are collars having their inner surfaces threadedto fitthe rope groove 31. If desired a clearance groove 33 may be also cut outof the inner The outer desired but they are preferably provided withrope grooves 34 which register with the rope groove 31. These collarsmay be turned in either direction to change their longitudinal positionson the drum, and when theyhave been set in the desired positions theymay be held there by means of set screws 35. A plurality of threadedholes 86 are provided in the drum for the reception of these set screws.Obviously collars of difi'erent size or shape may be substituted ,forthe collars 32. It is also to be noted that by properly proportioningthe line.

parts the movement of the connection 18 may be made at any desired rateproportional to-tli'e movement of the car, or in two or more distinctsteps. The dotted line in Fig. 2 represents graphically the movementimparted to the connection 18 and to the stop device when the particularform of drum shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is used. In this figure thehorizontal portion 37 represents the, position of the point 18 duringthe intermediate parts of the cars run. As the car runs down,corresponding with a movementto the left of the cable 15 on drum section22, thepoint. 18 will beginto move downward as represented by theportion 38 of the dotted line. After it has been moved as far as desiredit will again come to rest" as represented by the part 39 of the dottedbviously the movement of the stop device 'ay-be made as rapidly or asslowly as desired, or some parts of its movement may bemade more rapidlythan others, as its movement depends upon the relation between the partsof the controlling drum 20 with which the cable sections 14 and 15 coactat any given time.

By providing a second" diflerential drum which 1s. wound oppositely andanother pair of" cable section corresponding to the see- Drums ll and 12which are wound oppositely are substituted forthe drum 20. the

enlarged parts being such that when the car reaches one limit of itstravel there is a pull exerted from one of the cords as forexample cord15 which turns the lever to position a and when the car reaches theopposite limit of its travel the rope 15 pulls the lever into positionb.

It is evident that the same effect may be produced by providingrestricted portions such as 43 and 14: (see Fig. 5) in the drum section22 instead of providing enlargements 28 and 29 in the section 21. It isalso possible to provide enlargements in one drum section and restrictedportions in the other section or otherwise shape the surface of the drumto produce thedesired action at P the proper point in the.operation ofthe elevator. Or a combination of two enlargements in one drum sectionand two restricted portions in' the other drunrsection may be used ifdesired, as shown in the drum 20 of Fig. 6. r

The control rope-may if desired be a running rope, 2'. 6., one whichmoves with the movement of the car. An illustration of an arrangementwith two running ropes for actuatin an elevator stop-device by means ofa dii erential drum is shown in Fig. 7. In this case the stop-device hasan arm 50 which is normally held in a horizontal position. At the endsof this arm are rope sheaves 5253. 54 is a differential rope drum withsuitable elevations and depressions in its cylindrical surface, whichperforms the same functions as the drum 20 .of Figs. 1 and 2. 1

p A rope or cable 55 is connected with th car, runs up over a guidesheave 5G to drum 54 aboutwhich it makes one or more convolutions,thence down toand under sheave 52 and back to the car. Anotherrope,chain or cable 57 runs up to and around drum 54 in the same direction,thence over guide sheave 58 anddown to and under sheave 53 and back tothe car. So long as the ropes 55 and 57 run over parts of .drum 54 oflike diameter which is the condition which remains while the car ispassing over theintermediate parts of its pathof travel, the position of'the arm 50 will remain unchanged. But when the ropes run along to suchportions of'the drum that one of the ropes is on a part of differentdiameter than is the other rope, the differential effect heretoforedescribed will take place and the arm 50 will be tilted to one side orthe other, ac-

cording to the direction of movement of the.

' the car, whichrope runs down to drum 61 7 On the other hand anopposite movement of, the car will after awhile cause the control aroundwhich it is given one or more turns and thence up to the counterweightto which its other end is affixed. The rope-drum then floats in a loopof the control rope ,or-cable 62.

.The movement of the car will cause the rope to move to the right or tothe left of drum 61. Let us suppose the movement of the car causes therope to move to the right as viewed in, Fig. 9. It will after a timecome-to'an enlarged portion 63 of the drum. Here a larger part of therope will be wound upon the drum so that the effective length of thecontrol rope will be shortened and the arm 60 will consequently beraised.

rope to move to the left until it reaches a restricted portion 64: ofthe drum. Here less of it will be wound up on the drum so that lever 60will ,be lowered.

Another running rope arrangement is shown in Figs. 10 and 11, in which asec tion 65 of the control rope runs up to and is wrapped around aspirally grooved ropedrum 66 journaled at the top of the well. Thecentral portion of this drum is cylindrical, and the end ortion 67 is ofenlarged diameter, and be other end (38 is of restricted diameterrelative to the rest of the drum. The rope 65 makes one or moreconvolutions around the drum and is led down as at 69 and under a sheave70 on a weighted arm 71 of the stop device and thence up to the car towhich it is attached. During the intermediate parts of the cars runwhile the rope runs over the cylindrical part of the drum, the arm 71.will remain stationary. But as the car approaches its lower limit, forexample, the rope 65 which inthisdirection of car travel is driving thedmmne, will run up onto thecnlarged portion 67 and its effective lengththereby shortened; ,This will cause the sheave.70 and a'rrfn71 toberaised. When-the car approacheslthe other end of its travel, the ropeconvolutions will run onto the restricted portion68 of the drum to causethe} stop device arm to be lowered.

, Fig. 12 shows a rope drum 72 of a different shape or contour than anyof those hereinbefore described. Above the left-. hand portion thereofis a dotted line 73 which illustrates graphically the character ofmechanical movement which would be imparted to a desired element if adrum of this shape were used. f 74: in Fig. 13 is still another form ofdrum and 75 its characteristic curve. 76 "and 77 in Fig. 14are-anotherdrum and its characteristic respectively. These figures havebeenadded to show that from a given moV-' ing' body almost any kind of arelative movement may be obtained-by the use of differential drums orrope-drums having different diameters, as herein set forth. "Even theseare merely examples of what may be used for the drums may vary incharacter in infinite variety. I I have described several modificationsof my invention to show that it is ,in no sense limited to anyspecificfform or construction of parts. While I have-described and shallclaim this invention as applied to elevators I do not mean to limit itto this one of it advantageous uses.- Theexpression actuated by themovement of. the car or similar expressions mean of co u'rs e themovement of the car orsome other moving part of the elevator which moveswhen the, car does. i

What I claim is:

1.. The combination with-a movable member and a stop device therefbr. ofa control rope connected with the stop device. a rope drum havingvarying diameters, and means for bringing the rope into operativerelation with different parts of the drum during" corresponding parts ofthe travel of said member, to thereby cause the movement of the membertoactuate the stop device.

2. The combination with a movable membet and a stop device therefor, ofa control rope connected withthe stop device, a ropedrum' having acylindrical portion and other arts of different diameters, and means forbringing the rope into operative relation with different parts of thedrum, during corresponding parts of the travel of the movable member,said parts being arranged to cause the movement of said member to.actu

late the stop device when the'control rope comes into relation to theparts of the dr'um v device when the control rope comes into relation tothe parts of the drum of diifcrent diameters, and means for adjustingthe parts of the drum, ofditferent diameters, relative to thecylindrical portion thereof.

4. The combination with a movable member and'a stop'device therefor, ofacontrol rope connected with the stop device, a cylindrical rope drumhaving a helical groove therein, an internallv threaded collar with thethreads thereof fittint the helical groove upon said drum, said collarhaving an irregular external surface provided with a helical grooveregistering with the helical groove on the drum, means for bringing therope into operative relation with the groove on the drum and with thegroove on the collar during parts of the travel of said member, saidcollar being arranged to cause the movement of the member to actuate thestop device when the control rope comes into relation with the groove onthe collar.

The combination with a movable member and a stop device therefor. -'of adifferential rope drum and a control rope connecting said stop deviceand rope drum, said drum being arranged to act upon the rope toetlectthe actuation of the stop dcvice.

6. The combination with a movable member and a stop device theater. of acontrol rope connected with the .wLOl) device. a rope drum mounted onsaid member and having varying diameters, and means for bringing therope into operative relation with different parts of the drum duringcorres onding arts of the travel of the member, to thereb cause themovement of said member to control the actuation of the stop device.

7. The combination with a movable memher and a stop device therefor. ofa control rope connected with the stop device. a rope drum looselymounted on said member and having varying diameters, and means forcausing the movement of the member to bring said rope into operativerelation with different parts of the drum during corresponding parts ofthe travel of the member, to thereby cause the movement of the memher tocontrol the actuation of the stop device.

8. The combination with a movable member and a stop device therefor, ofa control rope connected with the stop device, a rope drum havingvarying diameters, means for bringing the rope into operative relationwith different parts of the drum during corresponding parts of thetravel of said member, to thereby cause the movement of the member tocontrol the actuation of the stop device, and means for compensating forany stretch of the rope.

9. The combination vvith a movable memher and a stop device therefor, ofa control drum'having varying diameters, means for bringing the ropeinto'oper'ative relation with diilcrent parts of the'drum during corresponding parts of the travel of said member, to the'rebyc'ause themovement of the member to actuate the stop device, and means forautomatically n laintaining the adjustm'ent'of thcco'ntrol rope.'-v

10. The combination \i ith'amovable member and a stop device therefor,of a control rope connected with the stop device, and means comprisinga"! (me drum having varying diameters cooperating with the control ropeand actuated by the movement of sai member to' move. the stopYlevice a]'predetermincd amount and thereafter remain un afl'ected by afiirth'ermovementof the member,

11. The combination \vi-tha movable member and a stopde'vice therefor,ofa control rope connected with the stop; device, means comprising a!rope dri1hi having. varying diameters coiiperating with the control ropeand actuated by the movement of'said' member fo' actuating the stopdevice a predetcrmined amount but allowing the member. to overrunWithout iniurv to the stop device.

12. The combination with a car and a stop device therefor, of a standingrope connected \vith a stop device, a movable rope drum having varyingdiameters, and means for bringing the rope into operative relation withditferent parts of the drum during corresponding parts of the travel ofthe car, to thereby cause the movement of the car to actuate the stopdevice.

13. The combination with a car and a stop device therefor, of a standingrope connected with a stop device, a. rope drum having varyingdiameters, means for bringing the rope into o erativc rel: tit) withdiiferent parts of the drum dpi'in, corrcspo ding parts of the travel ofthe car, to thbrcby cause the movement of the car to actuate the stopdevice, means for limiting themovement of the standing rope in oneditection, and means for automatically takingiap any slack in said rope.all,

14. The combination with a car and 'ijstop device'therefor, of adifferential rope rum, a standing rope connecting said drumand stopdevice,- said drum cooperating with said rope to effect the actuation ofthe stop device. means for limiting the movement of the stop device inone direction, and means for automatically taking up any slack in saidrope.

15. The combination with a car and :1 stop device therefor having amovable arm, of a standing rope connected to the movable arm of the stopdevice, a rope drum mounted on said car and having varying diameters,means for bringing the rope into operative relation With different partsof the drum during corresponding parts of the-travel of ameters, astanding rope'supported at the upper end of the cars path of travel,wound about said drum and having a weight at its lower end, a connectionbetween the stop device and said rope, the parts being so arranged thatthe movement of the car will rotate the drum to bring therope into operative relation with different parts of the drum during correspondingparts of the travel of the car, to thereby cause the movement of the carto actuate the stop device, a fixed abutment for the weight, and a takeup mechanism for keeping the rope taut and for maintainingtheadjust'ment of the connection of the rope with the stop device.

'17. The combination with a car and a stop device therefor, of acylindrical rope drum having a helical groove therein loosely mounted onthe car, two internally threaded collars with the'threads thereoffitting the helical groove upon said drum, means for cal grooveregistering with the vhelical groove on the drum, a standing ropesupported at the upper end of the cars path of travel wound about saiddrum and having a weight at its lower end, a. connection between thestop device and said rope, the parts being so arranged that the movementof the car will rotate the drum to bring'the rope into operativerelation with different parts of the drum and with said collars duringcorresponding parts of the travel of the car to thereby cause themovei'nentof the car to actuate the stop device, a fixed abutment forthe weight, and a take-up mechanism for keeping the rope taut and formaintaining the adjustment of the connection of the rope v with the stopdevice.

In witness whereof I have hereunto SBlZ-s my hand this 23rd day ofJanuary 1912. CHARLES R. wivirrinn.

Witnesses:

F. GRAVES, G. QUIMBY.

